Door knocker



May 29, 1956 J. B. MORSE, JR, ET AL DOOR KNOCKER Filed Nov. 26, 1952 INVENTOR ATTORNEY3 United States Patent ice DOOR KNOCKER John B. Morse, Jr., Hamden, and C. Benson, West Haven, Conn., assignors to The H. 'B. Ives Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 26, 1952,-Serial .No. 322,758

4 Claims. '(Cl."1"1'6- -1 l8) This invention relates to door knockers and more particularly to a door knocker for use with an inside door such, for example, as one of the interior doorsof .an apartment house although it is to be understood that .it is not necessarily limited to this use. I

In connection with doors to apartments and also in some other instances, it is desirable to place a room number or other notation on the door and in addition place thereon the name of the occupant. Where it is desired to employ a knocker it is,of course, advantageous to place either one or the other or both of such indications upon the knocker structure so that only one member 'or device has to be secured to the door.

The present structure has been devised to meet this demand and provides a knocker having provision .for applying a number or the like to the knocker and also,

if desired, provides for securing a name plate to .the I -knocker and thereby securing it to the door.

In some instances, however, it is desired to use a knocker without either an .indicator for the room number or a name plate, and it is also desirable in someinstances to use the knocker with either one of the auxwith a body portion formed by a stamping operation, and provision is made for detachably securing :thereto a frame or bracket for holding a card or .like. ,n1 ember having the number of the room thereon and also for securing thereto a bracket designed to carry the name of the occupant of the apartment or room. The parts are so designed that the basic part, i. e. the knocker itself may be employed alone, and yet with little additional work thereon be adapted for use with the auxiliary frames or brackets to hold the cards or plates carrying the number or names.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved door knocker.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door knocker having a flat surface on the front face thereof against which a card or plate may be placed and to which may be secured a frame to secure the card or frame in place.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a door knocker having means for securing at the lower end thereof a bracket for holding a name plate, card or the like, the arrangement being such that the knocker may be used with or without the bracket as desired.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

2,747,538 Patented May 29, 1-956 In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a knocker embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1.;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the lower end of the body portion of the knocker;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of a portion of the lower part of the knocker;

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the name plate bracket detached from the knocker; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the detachable frame for holding a card plate or the like on the knocker.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of our invention we have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a knocker comprising a body portion 10, the body portion being larger at its upper end than at its lower end and having projecting end members 11 and 12 at its .upper and lower ends respectively provided with openings 13 and 14 adapted to receive screws or similar fastening {members to secure the knocker in place upon the door.

As illustrated the above parts are integrally formed and consist of a stamped member of relatively thin material as compared with a casting, the entire structure being provided with a peripheral flange 15 (Fig. .2), the edge '16 of which is designed to rest against the door and hold the body portion in spaced relation to the door. The flange is provided with openings '17, one upon each side edge of the device for the reception of the usual bail 19.

Adjacent its upper portion where the body .is of sub- .stantial width it is formed to provide a fiat front surface or face 18 against which a card or plate bearing a room number or other indicia may be placed. It will be understood, however, that a knocker may be used without a card or name plate, and this -fla-t surface "will :be of ornamental character :and will provide the knocker with a pleasing appearance.

If, vhowever, a .plate or card bearing a number -;o'r @ot'her indicia is to be employed, a plurality of openings it) may be punched in the body portion of the knocker ad- :jacent the fiat surface 18, :four of such openings bein illustrated in the drawing. A frame shown more especially at 21 .-in Fig. 6 :is provided to be secured to the knocker and maintain the card or plate in place. This frame =will,.o'f course, be

of the same shape as that of the fiat surface .18, and-as .shown is of open rectangular form, .each side being formed of a member of angular {CIOSS section :and cemprising edge portions 22 and face portions 23, the latter lying in a vertical plane substantially parallel to the face of the surface 18 and spaced therefrom by the edge portions 22. Projecting rearwardly from the edge portions 22 and formed integrally therewith are lugs 24 designed to be received in the openings 20 and clenched over the rear face of the flat portion 18 of the knocker as shown more especially at Fig. 2.

Thus it will be seen that a card or plate or other member bearing indicia may be placed in the frame 21 and the latter secured to the face of the knocker over the flat portion 18 so that the card will be held against this portion by the angular side members of the frame 21. It will, of course, be understood that if the frame is not to be used, the openings 20 will not be punched in the body portion of the knocker and the latter may be made without such openings. Then if it is desired to use the frame the openings may readily be made by a separate operation. However, the stamping which comprises the body portion of the knocker will be the same whether or not the frame 21 is to be employed.

It is also sometimes desired to provide both for the indication of a room number and also of the name of the occupant of the room. To this end a bracket 25 is provided, shown moreespecially in Figs. 1 and 5. As 7 displaced outwardly, as shown at 29, so as to form a frame for a card or plate between the portion 29 and the base of the flange 26.

Adjacent the lug 27 the upper edge of the displaced portion 29 of the bracket may be of V-shaped form 36 so that between the legs of the V may be received the lower pointed end 31 of the end portion 12 of the knocker.

It will be seen that the displaced metal 29 forms a raised portion around the flange 26, and the engagemerit of'the pointed end 31 between 'the raised members 30 will serve to locate the bracket with respect to the body of the knocker as well as being ornamental.

Also additional means is provided to secure the bracket in place. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when the bracket 'and knocker are assembled the opening 23 will register with the opening 14 so that a screw or other fastening member may be passed therethrough to secure both members to the door. Also in order to make a rigid connection between these two parts theflange 15 at the.

lower pointed end of the knocker is recessed as shown at 32, Figs. 3 and 4, so as to allow the lug 27 to lie between the side edges 33 of this recess and lie flatly against the door and at the same time permitting the rear edge of the flange to lie flatly against the door. The side edges of the lug fit fairly snugly between the edges 33 of the flange 15 at each side of the recess 32 so that any tendency of the bracket to rotate about the fastening member which passes through the openings 14 and 28 will be prevented.

It will be apparent that the knocker illustrated may supply four different needs. It may be used as a knocker alone without either the frame 21 or the bracket 25, or it may be used with either one of these auxiliary parts without the other, or it may be used as shown in Fig. 1 with both the frame 21 and the bracket 25 attached thereto.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment'of our invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

1. A door knocker comprising a body portion and a knocker bail carried thereby, the lower end of the body portion being reduced in size relatively to the upper part, a card-holding bracket having'a lug projecting upwardly therefrom, and said lug being received beneath knocker bail carried thereby, said body portion having a the lower reduced end of the body portion of the knocker when the bracket is disposed below the knocker, registering openings in said lug and lower portion of the knocker to receive a fastening member, and cooperating engaging means on said body portion and lug to prevent rotation of the bracket relatively to the knocker about said fastening member. V

2. A door knocker comprising a body portion and a 'knocker bail carried thereby, the lower end of the body portion being reduced in size relatively to the upper part, a card-holding bracket having a lug projecting upwardly therefronnand said lug being received behind the lower reduced end of the body portion of .the knocker when the bracket is disposed below the knocker, the lower portion of the .body portion having a recess therein at its rear face to receive said lug and prevent rotation of the bracket relatively to the body portion of the knocker, and means to secure said lug in said recess.

3. A door knocker comprising a body portion and a knocker bail carried thereby, said body portion having a surrounding, rearwardly directed, edge flange to space it from the door, said flange having a downwardly opening recess at the lower end of the body portion, a cardholding bracket having an upwardly projecting lug received in said recess between the sidewalls thereof, and said body portion and lug having registering openings whereby a fastening member secures both thereof to a door. i

4. A door knocker comprising a body portion and a References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Jones Dec. 19, 1939 Fraim l Oct. '19, 1948 OTHER REFERENCES Sargent, Lock and Hardware. 477, item 134.

Sager, Locks and Hardware. 187, item 4019.

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